NAACP questions arrest and subsequent death of Jackson County man

Ervin Mathis Sr. was awakened shortly before midnight on July 4, 2022, by three sheriff’s deputies banging on the side of his trailer in Jackson County.

“Sheriff’s office, come out,” one of the officers said.

Less than three minutes later, 62-year-old Mathis, who has physical and speech impairments following a stroke, shuffled to his front door and told police officers they were at the wrong house. When he refused to comply, they arrested him for resisting an officer without the use of force.

He was released from county jail a day and a half later, and the following month the charges were dropped.

Five months later, he was found dead on his porch in his shirt and underwear.

On Monday, July 1 – almost exactly two years after his arrest – local and national NAACP representatives met to discuss what they called an “unlawful arrest” that was carried out with excessive force and are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the case.

“What are we hoping to achieve with this?” asked Adrian Abner, president of the Jackson County branch of the NAACP. “We hope to have a system where our (police) officers receive proper training.”

Recently released body camera footage from the night outraged activists and many in the community, and now others in Jackson County are coming forward with complaints about their own negative experiences with the Sheriff’s Department.

The JCSO did not respond to calls or emails from the Tallahassee Democrat seeking comment on the case.

‘What have I done?’

Officers initially arrived at Mathis’ trailer in response to a 911 call. A man called 911 dispatch and said he had “beat up his wife” and they should lock him up, according to a recording of the 911 call. But when officers finally searched the home, Mathis was the only person on the scene.

Body camera footage shows officers telling Mathis to come outside and talk to them, while Mathis asks why. When Mathis finally opens the door, an officer asks, “Where’s your girlfriend?”

“No,” Mathis repeated several times.

Mathis tries to return to his house and a deputy grabs his arm to stop him from leaving. Mathis tries to pull away, so the deputy tackles him to the ground and handcuffs him.

In his arrest report, an officer wrote that Mathis became agitated when attempts were made to prevent him from returning to the RV.

“He crouched slightly while twisting and contorting his face in an angry manner; he lowered his eyebrows, clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes,” the report said.

An officer laid him on his stomach and stayed with him until his colleagues had cleared the house.

“What did I do?” Mathis asked the officers as they escorted him to the car.

According to arrest records, a “further investigation” revealed that officers arrived at the home where the 911 call came from, but Mathis did not make the call. The person who made the call and the connection to Mathis’ residence are still unclear.

Jackson County Sheriff Donnie Edenfield told a WMBB reporter that his officers followed proper protocols and worked with the information they had from the 911 call.

“The most common incident in a private operation is usually the officers being shot at, so they couldn’t let him go back there,” Edenfield said.

He said he welcomed the involvement of the Justice Department and “anyone else who wants to review this.”

“Go ahead,” he added. “We have nothing to hide. Absolutely nothing.”

Deputy asks if the arrest was correct

While driving to the Jackson County Jail, the deputy made several phone calls to 911 dispatch, asking if they were sure “that’s our guy.”

“Does he normally sound like this?” the deputy asked as Mathis mumbled incomprehensible words in the back seat of the patrol car.

Immediately after hanging up, he made another call to the dispatch center: “Well, whether it was him or not, it would have been without resistance, right? Because we had reason to believe it came from this address? At least? … I just want to be sure.”

Mathis made his first court appearance two days later and was then released, according to court records. About a month later, prosecutors dropped the charges.

“Although there was sufficient suspicion to charge the defendant, the state decided not to proceed with the criminal proceedings due to the defendant’s current state of health,” the court documents state.

Five months later, officials found Mathis dead outside his mobile home, his body slumped in front of the front door. A “certifying physician” determined the cause of death was likely acute stroke and cerebrovascular disease, which affects blood flow to the brain, the death certificate states.

Mathis’ family said he had “an extensive medical history that included seizures, strokes, high blood pressure and diabetes,” the death report states.

“His dying, his death was not in vain”

Two years later, Abner said Mathis’ “life was not in vain; his dying and his death were not in vain either.” The Jackson County branch of the NAACP did not learn of Mathis’ story until May, which Abner attributes to the lack of information the family had received.

But now that the organization is on the radar, they aren’t stopping. Dale Landry, chairman of the criminal and juvenile justice committee of the Florida NAACP conference, said he has been in contact with Jason Coody, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Florida, among others. Coody’s office said it could not confirm or deny an investigation.

Additionally, Landry said that because Mathis’ death was unattended, it should have been investigated in person, but instead the Panama City coroner handled the entire matter over the phone.

A spokesman for the 14th District Coroner’s Office, which serves Bay County, said the sheriff’s office called and discussed the circumstances of Mathis’ death, but the coroner’s office declined to take the case.

For each death, the coroner’s office discusses the circumstances of the death and the deceased’s medical history to determine whether to take the case. Any initial inquiry is made by telephone, and the circumstances and manner of death determine whether a representative will actually attend the scene.

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